Boy´s Games

Os Santos

December 2022 •Portuguese

The Gods of Our Fathers

January 1994 •English

Explores the evolution of patriarchy as one effective way of organizing mass societies, from evidence in ancient Egyptian villages along the Nile.

Men's Madness - The Myth of Male Reason

January 1991 •English

Provocative, feminist critique of man’s technological progress.

Boys in the Trees

October 2016 •English

On Halloween 1997, two estranged teen skaters embark on a surreal journey through their memories, dreams and fears.

Farewell

January 2024 •English

Afan (19) grapples with heartbreak as he embarks with close friend Kush (30) on a day's trip to celebrate his upcoming marriage. Tensions rise, forcing them to confront their past and mend their bond, amidst their shared grief and hope for a brighter future.

Close

November 2022 •French

Thirteen-year-olds Léo and Rémi have always been close, but they drift apart after the intimacy of their relationship is questioned by schoolmates.

Adonis

February 2024 •French

A hard-hitting documentary that tackles head-on a controversial but increasingly alarming subject: young men's obsession with the perfect body, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs to achieve it. Once the preserve of top-level athletes, the use of anabolic steroids has become endemic among teenagers and young men with a passion for bodybuilding. Daring to tackle head-on the taboo of male beauty standards, Adonis offers a field investigation into the heart of this muscle-building machine, questioning the reasons behind and the physical, psychological and social risks of this race to the perfect body. As he stages his own vulnerability, the filmmaker lifts the veil on the scale of the public health crisis that is looming.

The Codes of Gender

October 2010 •English

Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.

The Lost Boys: Searching for Manhood

January 2024 •English

A documentary in which 5 men describe their experiences with gender dysphoria as they wrestled with feelings of inadequacy as men, and their ultimate pursuit to find peace in their natural bodies.

Shuttlecock

November 2019 •English

Carl is forced to confront his idea of masculinity when an obsession with a mysterious member of his badminton club spirals out of control.

It Was Related to Me

January 2011 •Arabic

A meditation on the complex relationship of two brothers, exploring the interplay of notions of brotherhood, patronage, masculinity, and sexuality.

War of the Buttons

April 1962 •French

For generations, two rival French villages, Longueverne and Velrans, have been at war. But this is no ordinary conflict, for the on-going hostilities are between two armies of young schoolboys. When he is beaten by his father for having lost his buttons, the leader of the Longueverne army, Lebrac, has an idea which will give his side the advantage: next time, he and his brave soldiers will go in battle without their clothes...

The Tree of Life

May 2011 •English

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Invincibl3

September 2021 •English

An experimental short film exploring fragile masculinity, small town mentality and cultural confusion, following a young Australian man on a spirit quest for significance and identity.

Precious Stones

March 2018 •English

Artist Daniel Crook unpacks masculinity one painting at a time.

Beau Travail

May 2000 •French

Foreign Legion officer Galoup recalls his once glorious life, training troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, until the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup's mind.

The Dependent Variables

October 2022 •Italian

In a dark, velvety theatre, there is a first kiss between Pietro and Tommaso. When the lights come back on, however, the two students have different expectations of what might follow. The chaos of awakening desire in its complexity and sensuality is told and made almost physically tangible through looks and gestures, approach and retreat, hope and fear.

Harry Styles: The Finishing Touch

January 2023 •French

Hit after hit, pop-icon Harry Styles, once the centerpiece of the world's biggest boy bands has grown into someone who isn't afraid of self-expression, continuing to reject the traditional confines of masculinity.

Water

August 2020 •Spanish

Camilo, an adolescent rower on a Xochimilco jetty, has his first sexual encounter with another man. One day he thinks he is being discovered by Beto, a colleague from work. When confronted, Camilo accidentally ends up revealing his homosexuality. Not knowing what to do, Camilo reacts violently and decides to flee Xochimilco.

Rooster's Crow

November 2023 •French

Drowned in the chaos of a family reunion filled with testosterone and pig roast, Reynald will try to prove to his nephew, his family but mostly himself that he's still king.